Many of the automotive industry's records and accolades are specifically sought after by the companies themselves. Not so for the Koenigsegg Agera RS' top speed record run. Actually, the owner of the car came up with the idea.

Koenigsegg's founder, CEO and namesake, Christian von Koenigsegg, told Driving in an interview that the owner approached the company with the idea to see just how past the machine would go. Koenigsegg recalled the car was nearly finished and the owner fancied to clock its top speed. When Koenigsegg said they didn't have a long enough test track available, the owner claimed he'd find a proper stretch of road to shut down for the task.

Koenigsegg Agera RS sets production car land speed record of 277.9 mph

Koenigsegg Agera RS sets production car land speed record of 277.9 mph

Somehow, he did just that. When one can afford a Koenigsegg, it's probably not too difficult to have a road shut down, we'd imagine.

That led Koenigsegg to Nevada with the owner to carry out the top speed run. When the CEO found out the owner managed to secure a road, he knew the company had to back the attempt. 

"We’ve never even driven that fast, so we wanted to be part of it, analyze it, and make sure it was done as safely as possible and that we got as much data out of it as possible," Koenigsegg said.

Koenigsegg Agera RS goes from 0-250-0 MPH in 37 seconds

Koenigsegg Agera RS goes from 0-250-0 MPH in 37 seconds

The run produced a top speed record of 277.9 mph, averaged between two runs, on a closed 12-mile section of Highway 160 just outside of Pahrump, Nevada. Racelogic recorded and verified all the data on the day.

And the same data proved useful to Koenigsegg. The CEO said that every Agera RS following the top speed record comes with an aerodynamic setup in the software. The setup can calibrate ride height, the rear wing, front flaps, and shock absorbers specifically for high speeds. The test also proved the wheels and tires equipped can handle forces approaching speeds of 300 mph.

Speaking of 300 mph, Koenigsegg himself thinks it's doable.